Here’s a roundup of interesting startup links I came across today:
How to stop being boring
The people who respond negatively aren’t your people anyway. That’s the benefit of being unedited: it filters your social world. The more you hide who you actually are, the more you attract people who like the persona, which means the more alone you feel even when surrounded by friends.
Stop Thinking of AI as a Coworker. It’s an Exoskeleton. | Kasava
Meanwhile, companies that treat AI as an extension of their existing workforce, an amplifier of human capability rather than a replacement, are seeing genuinely transformative results. Thats not to say that AI can’t act automonously with specific tasks (see the rise of OpenClaw as a viral proof of concept), but even that still acts as an extension of human decision making and context.
How will OpenAI compete? — Benedict Evans
OpenAI has some big questions. It doesn’t have unique tech. It has a big user base, but with limited engagement and stickiness and no network effect.
Portland is facing a $169 million budget deficit due to shelter and public safety costs – OPB
On Wednesday, the city’s budget office announced the city needs $169 million in additional money to keep current programs running in the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1. This is far higher than the roughly $67 million anticipated shortfall outlined in December.
Power in the Age of Intelligence
I have a different theory, one that neatly fits those two cases, the SaaSpocalypse, SpaceX’s $1.25 trillion valuation, and even the evolving structure of venture capital itself: winner takes more.
The November 2025 AI Coding Surprise, Model by Model | Goodeye Labs
In November 2025, AI coding tools went from “halting and clumsy” to surprisingly capable. Suddenly they could produce whole, working apps from minimal instruction, in ways they simply couldn’t before.
Living in the inflection point
I’m scared, I’m excited, and I’m exhausted by the pace of change. All of those things can be true at the same time. This blog post is a (hopefully) grounded take on living through AI’s inflection point, why the backlash is valid, and why human connection matters more now than ever.
The mystery of the Les Schwab pinball machine: how a tire company prop ended up in an Astoria arcade – Here is Oregon – hereisoregon.com
You can still play this obscure piece of Oregon history. It’s among 40-plus arcade games and pinball machines available at Galactix arcade, 254 9th St., in Astoria.
Oregon startup news
